New coaching and competition for girls and boys in Year 6–9 who know the basics of the game

Support for clubs to get started and to develop

Open assessment of young people in Years 8 and 9 (boys) and Years 8 – 10 (girls), who want to get more involved

Coaching in Development Squads for those with talent

Play Rugby

Community Rugby Coaches

The Community Rugby Coach (CRC) is the local face of rugby union. Working under the strategic direction of an RFU Rugby Development Officer (RDO), these qualified coaches, trained in LTAD, Multiskills and the national curriculum deliver high-quality coaching to over one million participants per season.

The CRC is also a key deliverer to help the sustainability of the game, leading courses for young leaders and foundation level coaches. The Rugby Union Whole Sport Plan Funding from Sport England contributes to this programme, to which many other valuable key partners, add their support to get CRCs on the ground.

The roll out of the CRC Team is part of the RFU’s drive to provide the best and most available service possible to grass roots rugby union. The CRC Team has been put in place by Regional Development Manager (RDMs) and RDOs working strategically with partners in organisations such as clubs, county sports partnerships, local authorities, county rugby unions and school sport partnerships.

Club Hampshire

Club Hampshire looks after the elite side of playing rugby in Hampshire, and runs successful teams that compete from U14’s to a Senior XV.

Schools

Hampshire runs schools based competition for all ages and abilities. The RFU managed competitions include Tag rugby at yrs 3, 4, 5 and 6, Emerging Schools Competitions (for new rugby playing schools) at years 7, 8 and 9, and the Hampshire Schools RFU manage competitions that run from years 7 to 10.

Prop Idol

This project is aimed at raising the awareness, skill levels and safety of front row play. It involves development of coaches to become 'Front Row Mentors' who visit Hamshire clubs to deliver much needed specialist coaching in the latest skill and safety techniques in this very specialized area of the game. The scheme is supported by Hampshire RFU and Testway 7s, a sports project run by Testway Housing in Andover and has been running for four years and has grown year on year.

Club Support

The Community Rugby Whole Club Seal of Approval

Community Rugby introduced the Whole Club Seal of Approval accreditation in 2009 as a method of ensuring high quality provision of rugby in clubs. The accreditation recognises the effort and achievement of volunteers in reaching the required standard of a club committed to the development of rugby union. The objective is to ensure that the whole club is sustainable and planning to grow participation for all types of player.

Whole Club Development Planning

Rugby clubs are rapidly moving into a more professional culture, partly as a result of changes in legislation, but largely from the desire to improve the provision for all members and to grow the club.

The most effective way for clubs to develop and improve is to be involved in a planning process that sets your club on the path to a better future. It is also important that this process and plan involves all sections of the club if it is to be effective.